Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Midlife Crisis Gets Deadly in Girl in the Pool

We keep secrets to protect the ones we love. Some secrets are kept selfishly to protect us from public shame. No matter the reason, the is always a lot at stake. A guilty conscience can run rampant, creating paranoia that could drive you to the brink of insanity. In Dakota Gorman’s Girl in the Pool, Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Thomas is a family man is having a midlife crisis—but what he doesn’t know is how deadly they can become.

Thomas lives in a suburb that is identical to most. He has a lovely wife, Kirsten (Monica Potter), and two wonderful children. However, Thomas is going through a bit of a midlife crisis. For some time now, Thomas has been cheating on his wife with a younger woman named Hannah (Gabrielle Haugh). On the day of his birthday, Thomas is surprised by a visit from Hannah. She comes to his home unannounced and pleads with him for a little bit of his time. Little do they know, their steamy rendezvous in the family pool becomes their last. After a short break, Thomas comes back to see his mistress face down in the pool dead. 

To complicate matters, Kirsten and family throw him a surprise birthday party in the same backyard. For the remainder of the film, we watch a paranoid Thomas navigate his surprise birthday party with a body hiding in almost plain sight. 

The Girl in the Pool reunites the actors Prinze and Potter 23 years after they co-starred in 2001’s Head Over Heels. This latest Prinze film is one part true crime thriller and one part modern-day Tell-Tale Heart. Thomas has been having marital problems for some time. He is a middle-aged man who is unhappy and going through a midlife crisis. It’s clear early on that the guilt and paranoia of his adultery have been eating away at his conscience. If that is not enough, now he is hiding the body of his mistress on his home premises. No wonder Thomas is extremely paranoid. He also doesn’t do a good job hiding that he is guilty of some crime. Everyone can see that he is hiding something.

The body hides under everyone’s noses. It beats like the heart in the classic Edgar Allan Poe tale, just as the way that The Girl in the Pool builds its tension is similar to that of the Tell-Tale Heart way. The audience is aware of what is hiding. Knowing what is at stake for Thomas and of his dark double-life, it keeps its viewers engaged. The only thing that The Girl in the Pool is missing is the actual beat of a pulsating heart. However, it feels implied.

The Girl in the Pool has a simple premise. Simple isn’t always a bad thing. It doesn’t overcomplicate its story. There is no reinventing of the wheel happening here. It isn’t always the best thing to keep it simple. There are a lot of moments that should be twists and turns. Yet, they fall short in their impact due to the film’s predictability. 

The one takeaway from Girl in the Pool is having Prinze Jr. on your screen. He gives a decent performance as Thomas. One thing that is certain is he is not a jock with a heart of gold in this film. It is interesting to see him play a character who seemingly has no redeemable qualities. The only positive about Thomas is that deep down, he does love his family it seems. However, Thomas will not be a memorable role for Prinze. It fades into the background compared to the iconic teen rom-coms he was in during his heyday. However, for a nostalgic audience and fans of the actor, Girl in the Pool offers a digestible true crime thriller with Prinze front and center.

Even though Thomas complicates his life with one small secret, the film itself is not overcomplicated. Girl in the Pool is not setting out to reinvent its genre. It simply sticks to the basics of true crime. It is a tale as old as time. A man who blows up his life because he has a mid-life crisis. It’s fun to watch when it isn’t happening to you. It is made for an audience looking for a digestible true crime with their favorite teen heartthrob.